AP changes Crimea dateline

3/19/14 1:46 PM EDT

The Associated Press has changed its dateline for Crimea in the wake of the Russian takeover. Whereas previous articles from the region have begun with “SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine," articles this week and going forward would begin with "SEVASTOPOL, Crimea.”

"Ukraine no longer controls Crimea, and AP datelines should reflect the facts on the ground," Tom Kent, the AP’s deputy managing editor for standards, wrote in a statement.

Because of a quirk of geography -- the fact that Crimea doesn't share a land-border with Russia -- the AP says it won't use a “SEVASTOPOL, Russia” dateline, which would inevitably spur a heated political debate.

"Saying just the city name and 'Crimea' in the dateline, even in the event of full annexation, would be consistent with how we handle geographically separate parts of other countries," the AP states. "For instance, we just say 'Sicily' and 'Sardinia' in datelines — 'PALERMO, Sicily (AP)' — even though they are part of Italy, and 'Guadeloupe' in datelines even though that island is part of France."